Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Country diary: Bergh Apton, Norfolk

This village-based sculpture trail is now such an eagerly anticipated fixture of the regional arts scene that it seems odd to have to recount the basic format. For three weekends (between 21 May and 5 June) vast numbers of the public can be found wandering the labyrinthine lanes that thread through this exceptional place. Mere strangers are then encouraged to let themselves into a selection of private gardens without so much as a "Hello, d'ya mind?" to the owners, who are often on hand to facilitate your "trespass". These settings range from the vast parkland around Bergh Apton Manor, right down to the maze-like arrangement of hedge, bush and outbuilding that encloses the village post office. In each of them is a display of sculptural work by a huge range of artists, many of international repute.

This year they have bolted on to the main show an array of music, drama, performance and rural craft displays, such as hedge laying and wrought-iron work. In some ways these "extras" rival the central artistic event, but I was reassured to find a good selection of work by some of my favourite local sculptors, such as the brilliant scrap-iron birds and beasts of Harriet Mead, the wonderfully mobile steel creatures of Andy Jarrett, the more decorative ceramics of Georgina Warne, and the calligraphy of Gary Breeze. And all that fresh air somehow liberates us from the usual wall-to-wall piety and deference that often cramp more formal art exhibitions. I loved the way the woman with the strong local accent and her Asda shopping bags felt entitled to argue how Chris Summerfield's Fish on Wheels (the emblem piece for the whole exhibition) should have really been sited over water. Somehow Bergh Apton allows us all to feel that sculpture is important but also part of our everyday experience.


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/30/country-diary-bergh-apton-norfolk

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